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New telescope to benefit students in city

Telescope set up under UPE at a cost of Rs 20 lakh
Last Updated 01 August 2013, 21:44 IST

The ‘Celestron CPC 1100 GPS XLT Schimdt-Cassegrain Telescope’, which has the capacity to deliver most light gathering power and limiting magnitude of nearly 15, was unveiled by Department of Studies in Physics, University of Mysore, on Thursday. 

Though there was a telescope facility at the department since 1976, it was a small refractive one with just six inches. Presently to facilitate MSc students, the larger telescope of 11 inches has been set up with a steel dome structure erected atop the department with automatic motor controlled rotating facility to record the observations. 

It provides a new level of detail to the sky objects of NGC and Abell galaxies. The telescope has a combined technology of ‘SkyAlign’ alignment besides advanced engineering, bold design at an affordable price. The ‘SkyAlign’ provides a quick, simple alignment, GPS, unsurpassed optical quality, enhanced computerisation. 

The Celestron Professional Computerised (CPC) Series includes an internal GPS that automatically downloads the date, time from orbiting satellites, precision of the telescope’s location. 

The CPC’s database contains more than 40,000 celestial objects including Caldwell Catalog as well as HGC Galaxies, Nebulae and planets.  The telescope also has an upgradation facility, included with ‘Nexremote’ software, enabling operation remotely from a PC or laptop. 

 The facility is said to be useful for star viewing for students in and around campus, and help them with their projects. Special arrangements will be made for public to view stars and planets. 

P Sreekumar, Director, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, said that there had been a revolution in the field of astrophysics after Galileo discovered the telescope 400 years ago.

K S Rangappa, Vice-Chancellor, University of Mysore, said that the telescope would be useful for students of Physics, besides students from different schools and colleges in city could also make use of the facility. The telescope was procured under University with Potential for Excellence (UPE) at a cost of Rs 20 lakh. 

Rangappa said that the varsity would provide Rs five to six lakh for upgradation of the facility.

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(Published 01 August 2013, 21:44 IST)

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